Colleges & Campus News

UCF to Collect Expired, Unwanted Drugs April 24

UCF will collect over-the-counter and prescription drugs during its Drug Take Back Day April 20.

Got drugs?

If your answer is “Yes,” UCF wants them. But the university won’t ask any more questions about them.

UCF Police and UCF Health Services will partner to collect expired, unwanted or unused prescription drugs as part of an anonymous, no-questions-asked national effort to curb drug abuse and safely dispose of unneeded medicine.

UCF’s fourth drug take-back event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, April 24, part of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Prescription Drug Take Back-Day, which will be held Saturday, April 26.

UCF will host the event at the John T. Washington Center Breezeway a few days before the national take-back day to accommodate students’ schedules. UCF Police will store all the turned in drugs until the DEA picks them up Saturday.

No needles will be accepted, but all over-the-counter and prescription drugs are welcome, including inhalers, liquids and ointments. Pet medication also will be accepted.

The DEA will incinerate all collected items, which is the safest way to destroy expired or unneeded drugs, keeping them out of the hands of abusers and protecting our waterways and landfills.

Last October, the DEA collected more than 647,000 pounds of prescription drugs at 5,683 sites. In total, the DEA’s drug take-back events have collected more than 3.4 million pounds of pills.

The initiative is important because medicine that sits in home cabinets is subject to misuse or abuse, which is why organizers suggest cleaning out your medicine chest at least once a year.

UCF regularly collects unwanted pills and patches at permanent drug take-back boxes located on the first floor of the Student Union and in the pharmacy of the Health Center. UCF Police collects items from the boxes and stores them until they are picked up by the DEA.